Friday, 9 September 2011

Cracking Club Competitions At Croft (sorry)

Croft Circuit is gearing itself up for
a bumper double treat of top club-level motor sport – headlined by
the Darlington & District Motor Club’s massively popular
Northern Sports & Saloon Car Championship and beginning this
weekend 10-11 September.

A staggering EIGHTEEN races are in
store for the public attending this weekend’s event, being
organised by the DDMC itself – eight on Saturday and a further ten
on Sunday.

Some 70 competitors are subscribed for
the NSSCC’s races at what is the championship’s spiritual home.
Other categories in action include the highly charismatic Equipe GTS
– for historic production sportscars such as MGAs, MGBs, Triumph
TR3s and 4s, Morgan 4/4s and Plus-4s, Sprites, Midgets and many more
– plus four further hotly-contested series for Mazda MX5s (both MK1
and MK3 classes) and MGs.

Public arriving at Croft (off the A167
just south of Darlington) in any model of Mazda will receive
half-price admission (just £6). Admission for children aged 15 and
under is FREE all weekend. Visit the www.croftcircuit.co.uk
website or call the circuit on 01325 721815 for more details.

The event is the first of two race
meetings at Croft in the next fortnight – another bumper fixture,
run by the famed British Automobile Racing Club, is in store on the
weekend of 24-25 September.

Respectively, these mark the
penultimate and then title-deciding final rounds of the Northern
Sports and Saloon Car Championship with up to 70 competitors expected
in action. In fact the NSSCC now stands as one of the best-subscribed
championships to be run by a local motor club anywhere in the UK with
an astonishing 27 marques and 43 different models on the grid across
nine different classes from ‘tiddlers’ to ‘big bangers’
depending on engine size. Each class title remains up for grabs with
the highest-scoring driver from those then being crowned the NSSCC
Champion of 2011.

On sheer pace, Jeff Wilson’s sensational
Lotus Elise ‘silhouette’ is a firm favourite for victory – he
has won every time out this year – but two missed rounds earlier in
the season look set to cost the established Newcastle-upon-Tyne racer
dear as he is back in sixth in the overall standings. Instead victory
in class in all ten races to date mean BMW driver Mike Cutt from York
almost has one hand on the trophy already.

After a tough
opening to the season, reigning 2010 Champion Paul Moss (Darlington)
lies fifth in his Citroen Saxo as the leading class D scorer. And it
is class D which appears to be the most wide open with three
different winners in the last three races alone and four drivers –
Moss, Bishop Auckland duo Simon Gibson and Peter Dixon as well as
Jason South (Harrogate) – all in contention for honours.

Countdown begins to Croft’s
R.A.C Rally stage

Meanwhile Croft Circuit, the North
East’s premier motor racing venue, is counting down to its stage of
this year’s high-profile Roger Albert Clark historic car rally
featuring a mouth-watering entry of many of the machines that wowed
the nation on the RAC rallies of old during the Sixties through to
the early Eighties.

Ford Escort MK1s and 2s, Vauxhall
Chevettes, Porsche 911s, Opel Asconas, Saab 96s, Mini Coopers and
even the odd Lancia Stratos, Renault 5 Turbo and Talbot Sunbeam are
among the expected entries for the four-day event – regarded as one
of the finest of its kind in the world and which stops off at Croft
on the afternoon of Saturday 3 December.

The circuit’s paddock will become a
major service area for the teams, drivers and their cars before the
flat-out action begins on a specially-designed stage incorporating
much of the race track. More details including timings and ticket
prices will be announced in the near future.

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And of course, it's not the only great action this weekend, there's the Welsh Sports and Saloons at Pembrey, Camarthenshire along with the Caterham Graduates and BMWs, In Brighton there's the famous speed trials and at Gurston there's a hillclimb - watch out for the Overdrive Logo on Team Ruptured Duck's Global - There's loads going on every weekend in club motorsport and it's really worth a watch!